Oscar Winner Brie Larson Is in Talks to Play Captain Marvel

Recent Best Actress winner Brie Larson reportedly has her sights set on another blockbuster role. The news just broke that the 27-year-old has emerged as Marvel's first choice to play Carol Danvers, and is "leaning towards" taking the part.

According to the report in Variety, Larson is in "early talks" for the role, although the state of the negotiations is unknown. Marvel hasn't officially confirmed that she's the frontrunner, but it would make sense. Between her star-making turn in indies like Room and Short Term 12 and her upcoming role in Kong: Skull Island, Larson's career is blowing up right now. Plus, Marvel is in the habit of nabbing Oscar winners and nominees, including Robert Downey Jr., Natalie Portman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Mark Ruffalo, and most recently Cate Blanchett for Thor: Ragnarok and Michael Keaton for Spider-Man.

Larson wasn't on our list of actresses to play Captain Marvel, but she's obviously very talented and would make a fantastic choice. Our only caveat would be that, with all the fire Marvel's been taking for a lack of racial diversity recently, it would have been nice if they had cast a person of color, like Michelle Rodriguez or Lucy Liu, especially since Carol's race isn't particularly important to her character. But still, Larson is great, and we'd look forward to seeing her in the role.

Captain Marvel doesn't have a director yet, but the script is currently being written by Inside Out's Meg LeFauve and Guardians of the Galaxy's Nicole Perlman. The film is set to open in theaters on July 6, 2018, but Marvel is casting the role early, probably so the actress can be introduced in an earlier film, like Infinity War.